Mosaic
by newyork24-7
Summary: Sometimes even broken pieces can be put together to form something meaningful. AU in which Kelly survives the car accident, will lead to eventual JIBBS
1. Prologue

**I think I must be insane to start another story right now, but this story has been tormenting me for months now.**

**I really never had any intention of writing a Kelly survives story, but here we are lol.**

**As usual I own zip, nil, nada.**

**This chapter is really just to get the character's into the place I want them to be. Hope you enjoy :)**

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**February 1991**

He thought that the flight home would be the longest hours of his life but they didn't even compare to the minutes it took him to walk to the paediatric ward in Bethesda Naval Hospital.

The footsteps that had echoed so heavily in his own ears stopped, and for a few moments he remained unaware of the fact that he was no longer moving forward.

For once in his life Leroy Jethro Gibbs felt lost and out of control, he stared down the impossibly long corridor and swallowed heavily, the sound reverberating in his ears along with the words that his commanding officer had uttered to him just thirty six hours previously, the words that would change his life forever.

He shut his eyes, the scene replaying beneath his eyelids in a horrific scene that he couldn't escape.

_The air was warm and heavy as he walked to the tent, having been summoned unexpectedly. As he ducked under the flap that signified the entrance, he noticed the grave expression on the older man's face the moment he straightened and his gut flip flopped. "You wanted to see me, Sir," he got out uneasily._

_Eyes filled with pity turned on him as he waved a hand towards a worn canvas chair. "Take a seat, Gunny."_

"_I'd rather not, if it's all the same."_

_The other man let out a low sigh. "I have some bad news." He paused for what felt like eternity, as though he was trying to choose his words carefully and yet couldn't quite do it and so just blurted out what he could manage. "It's about your wife, there was a car accident…and-" He shook his head. "She didn't make it. Gunny, I'm so sorry."_

"_No!" The word escaped him unbidden. His blue eyes searched the other's face, seeing nothing but pity. His ears buzzed and his stomach dropped into his boots as his eyes burned with unshed tears. The message still hadn't quite sank in as another thought hit him like a ton of bricks. "Kelly!" he gasped breathlessly. "What about Kelly?"_

"_She was in the car, she's being treated at Bethesda, I don't know much about her condition, I just know that she's stable."_

"_I need to go."_

"_We're arranging it. Sit down, Gunny, before you fall."_

"Sir?"

The questioning tone of the word pulled Gibbs out of his own personal hell. His eyes blinked slowly open and he glanced down at the young nurse who was smiling concernedly at him. "Sir," she repeated. "Are you Ok?"

He blinked, absorbing the question. The young woman bit nervously into her lower lip. "Are you lost?" she asked tentatively.

Finally his brain seemed to re-engage with his mouth. "No," he croaked out. "I'm not lost, just thinking."

Her forehead remained creased in concern. "Do you need help with anything?"

He shook his head. The help he really needed was the kind that she couldn't offer him, he needed to go back, needed to fix what had happened to his family, to his wife and he couldn't, no-one could. "I'm fine. Thank you," he finally replied.

She nodded although she looked unconvinced. Throwing him one last look, she let the hand that he didn't even realise was on his shoulder fall away and she walked away slowly, almost hesitantly, throwing him one last look over her shoulder.

For a moment he continued to just rock on his heels, his hands pushing into his pockets. Finally the lead weights that were his feet began to move again and he continued his slow trudge, he had no idea what awaited him and he was dreading yet more bad news. He already knew that he was at his limit and had no idea what he would do if his little girl wasn't ok.

Finally he reached the ward, and he pulled the heavy door open, stepping inside the bright ward the sound of children's chatter hitting his ears. His eyes alighted on the nurses desk, and he stepped slowly forward. The woman at it looked up, offering him a welcoming smile. "Can I help you?" she asked.

Gibbs nodded, replying, "I'm looking for my daughter, Kelly, Kelly Gibbs."

The smile on the older woman's face didn't falter, but it did take on a softer edge. "She's in a side room at the other end of the ward, it's quieter down there."

"How is she?"

The woman stood. "She's doing very well. How much have you been told about her condition?" She already knew that he'd been serving when the accident had happened, it had been mentioned in the numerous handovers that had passed since the little girl's admission.

"Nothing," he mumbled, he'd never felt more inadequate as a parent as he did right now.

The nurse led him over to a quieter section of the unit, and quietly filled him in. "When Kelly came in she had some internal injuries and so she required surgery to repair a tear in her spleen. The surgery went extremely well and we don't expect there to be any further complications from that. However before we could get her into surgery, Kelly lost quite a bit of blood and so she did require an additional blood transfusion when she returned to the ward. In addition to this she has some bruising from the seatbelt, whiplash, a mild concussion and a broken ankle. Now I know it sounds a lot, but she is stable and we expect her to make a full recovery."

"Can I see her?" Gibbs choked out, his mind in a confused whir as he struggled to take in all the details he'd just been told.

"Of course, she's in room twelve, at the bottom on your left. Would you like me to show you?"

"No, no I'd rather go on my own."

"Ok, well just so you know both her grandparent's are with her."

He turned unblinking eyes on her and nodded. Of course they were, both would have rushed from their respective towns to sit by their only grandchild's bedside.

As he walked away from her, a hushed shout of, "Son!" stopping him in his tracks once more. He turned slowly to face hid father, who was striding down the corridor after him, two Styrofoam cups in hand. He stared at him mutely, waiting for his father to continue. Jack drew level with his son, his eyes raking over his dishevelled form. He let out a low sigh, his fingers tapping nervously against the cups. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't!" Gibbs cut in, struggling to keep control of the anger that was bubbling underneath his surface. "I don't want to hear that word. I hate that word! It doesn't mean anything!"

"It's an expression of regret-"

"That doesn't change anything, it's meaningless."

"No it's not," Jack whispered. "But that's not really the issue here."

"I just want to see Kelly, everything else can wait. Joanne in there with her?"

"Yeah, she's not moved since Kelly came back from theatre. Brought this for her," he nodded towards one of the steaming cups. "You look like you could use the other one." He held it out, a small peace offering in light of the troubled times they were in. They had barely spoken in years, it had been Shannon who kept in touch with him, who had sent cards and presents, building the relationship between Kelly and her grandfather.

Gibbs took the cup, taking a slow sip and grimacing at the taste. "Thanks," he muttered. He downed the rest of the vile liquid, figuring it was better than going thirsty. He stared towards the door. "Need to see her," he muttered, willing his feet to move. He couldn't admit it, but he was terrified beyond belief at what lay beyond that door.

His father's heavy hand rested on his shoulder, and he pressed the spare cup into Gibbs hand. "Here," he prompted. "Take this into Joanne."

He nodded, stepping forward slowly he pushed open the door and moved inside. His chest constricted as he took in the sight of his daughter lying on her side, curled up into herself, the drip in her hand trailing across the starched white hospital bed sheet. He glanced over to Joanne who's jaw tightened in annoyance at him - not that that was a new thing, she always did that. She sniffed disapprovingly. "I see you're finally here."

He knew that she was trying to irritate him, but she really had struck a nerve with this one. His eyes narrowed. "Got here as quickly as I could," he growled.

She turned her head away from him, a noise of disgust escaping her throat. The sound caused Kelly to stir, her blue eyes blinking open. "Daddy?" she whimpered.

"I'm here, Kel." He moved forward and sat on the edge of her bed, leaning to press a kiss to the top of her head. His heart constricted at the sight of her wide, tear filled eyes. She hadn't called him Daddy for years, as she'd grown older she'd switched to Dad.

"Daddy I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Mommy's not coming back," she informed him sadly.

"I know."

"But you'll stay? You won't go away again?"

"I'm never going to leave you," he promised her.

She shuffled closer into his arms, yawning widely. "Tired," she muttered.

"Then go to sleep," he told her, stroking her light brown hair soothingly.

He watched as her eyes slowly drifted shut again and her breathing evened out. He sat in silence, watching his daughter sleep and studiously ignoring Joanne's death glare.

As the hours passed, and Kelly woke up, she began to open up more, talking to him almost normally as she picked at her food. "Are you going to stay with me tonight?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Good," she replied, turning her attention back to her soup and sipped at it slowly.

Joanne cleared her throat noisily. "I'd like a word outside please, Jethro."

Gibbs flashed a reassuring smile at his daughter. "I won't be long," he promised.

He stepped outside and wasn't surprised when the moment the door shut over Joanne turned on him, her face held in a snarl. "I've been staying with her."

"I know," he breathed out, trying to keep a lid on his temper. He was really struggling now, he'd pushed his grief over Shannon to one side for Kelly's sake, and although he understood that Joanne was most likely doing the same thing, he was getting tired of her snapping at him. He ran a hand through his shorn brown hair. "I appreciate everything you've done for Kelly but I'm here now, it's my job."

"Because you've done such a wonderful job so far."

Gibbs felt his fists clench. "That's enough!"

Joanne's eyes blazed, it was as though something inside her had snapped. "You should have been here!" she hissed her eyes full of vehemence. "You should have been here to protect them!"

Jackson - who had slipped outside to try and stop the confrontation - laid a firm hand on Joanne's shoulder, trying to calm her. "That's enough," he told her lowly. "You're not helping anyone."

Her eyes filled with angry tears. "He should have been here, he took my girls away from me, brought them here and then didn't even hang around to protect them."

Gibbs ran a hand over his unshaven jaw. "How the Hell could I have prevented this! It was a car accident, I-"

"If you'd been here then she'd never have seen that murder, she wouldn't have decided to testify and she wouldn't have been in that car!"

For a moment Gibbs merely stared at his mother in law as though she'd gone mad. His mouth moved but no sound came out, he shook his head in an attempt to clear it, but it didn't work. Over the buzzing noise that seemed to echo around his head, he saw his father prod a shaking Joanne towards the door, heard him telling her softly, "Go sit with Kelly." His knees buckled and he sank into the one of the hard plastic chairs that were dotted along the corridor. He felt his father sit down next to him, heard his harsh sigh. "I thought you knew, thought they would've told you."

"They just said there had been a car accident." He turned his confused gaze onto Jackson. "What the Hell happened to Shannon?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.

"She witnessed a murder about six weeks back, she was the sole witness and this guy was considered to be dangerous so she and Kelly were placed under a protective detail. Because of this detail they were given a driver, they were on the way to Kelly's piano lesson when the driver was shot and killed. The car spun out of control, and-" He lifted his shoulders in a helpless shrug.

"Why wasn't I told this?" Gibbs growled, his blood boiling. "Why wouldn't Shannon tell me?"

"She didn't tell anyone Son, most likely she didn't want to worry you when you were out there, didn't want your mind elsewhere."

Gibbs stood up abruptly. He felt like he couldn't breathe, she'd hid this from him, she'd done it to protect him from harm, but in the end it had cost her her life. His mind whirred. "Who has the case?"

"An agency called NIS. A Mike Franks was here not long before you arrived, filling us in."

"I need to go talk to him," Gibbs told him unsteadily. "Tell Kelly I won't be long."

Jackson stood up. "Don't do anything rash," he tried to tell him.

Numb and unhearing, Gibbs walked away.

* * *

"Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs, I'm Agent Mike Franks, I'm the one assigned to your wife's case," the craggy, bedraggled looking man in front of Gibbs informed him.

"Murder, you mean?" Gibbs snapped. He was tired, angry and devastated, and he had no reason to hold that in in front of this man.

To his credit, Mike Franks didn't shrink back from the sharp, accusing tone. "You wanted to speak to me," he replied.

"I want to know if you've locked away the bastard who killed my wife!"

Mike let out something that sounded close to a repressed groan. "I'm afraid the man responsible has fled across the Mexican border, we're unable to extradite him."

"But you know where he is?"

"I can't answer that."

"Bullshit! He killed my wife," Gibbs snarled. "I want justice, she was trying to do the right thing."

"I know," Mike replied sadly. He had met the woman, Shannon, before and she hadn't deserved what had happened to her. Knowing the man's military training, he looked down meaningfully at the manila folder on the desk in front of him, his fingers briefly tracing over it's front. He looked back up and met the younger man's angry gaze. "I need to step outside for a moment, if you'll excuse me."

Gibbs followed his eyes down to the folder, and realising what the man was offering nodded. "Take your time," he replied. He waited until the door was firmly shut before snatching the folder and scanning and memorising all the details inside.

* * *

"Can you plait my hair?" Kelly asked her Dad quietly.

He stared at her almost helplessly. "I don't know how," he finally admitted. "Maybe your Gran can do it for you when she gets back."

"Yeah," Kelly mumbled. "Maybe." She turned her attention back to the puzzle book she'd been given, absentmindedly fingering her tangled locks.

Sighing Gibbs picked up the hairbrush almost hesitantly. "I suppose I could tie it back though, I think I could manage that."

Kelly smiled and nodded eagerly. "I'd like that."

He moved so he was behind her, and drew the brush carefully through her hair, wincing at every tangle. As he did so, he let his mind drift elsewhere. He wanted to go to Mexico, he wanted justice for Shannon, but he couldn't just leave Kelly to get it. He looked down at his daughter again. He wasn't prepared for this and he knew it. He'd been an absent father, not because of a lack of caring but because his job had demanded it, and now he wasn't sure if he had what it took to bring Kelly up on his own. He'd missed so much, it had been Shannon who had dealt with the daily routines, he didn't have a clue how to deal with it. Not only that but as Kelly grew older she wouldn't have her mother to lean on, she'd just have him, and he knew for a fact that he'd be useless when it came to 'girl stuff'.

"Daddy?" Her small voice broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Are you really staying this time?"

Gibbs stared at her wordlessly for a few minutes. He might want Shannon's murderer dead but what would Shannon have wanted. In all honesty he didn't really even need to ask, she'd want him to stay here, she'd have killed him on the spot if she knew what he was considering. He sighed, she would have been right, retribution over Shannon's death had to take a second place to Kelly's well being. As much as he wanted revenge he knew he couldn't take it and be there for his daughter in the way she needed. He looked back down at her and smiled. "I'm really staying this time," he told her.

* * *

"Didn't expect to see you here," Agent Franks told him gruffly as he approached the seats outside Kelly's room.

"Decided I was needed more here," Gibbs told him.

The man nodded. "Wise choice," he replied. "Between us revenge never solves anything, helps for about a second."

"But you were gonna let me do it anyway?"

"Do what?" Mike asked casually. "No idea what you're on about Gunny."

"Of course not," Gibbs scoffed.

Mike stifled a smile. He'd offered the younger man the choice because he hated to see scum like that walk away, because he sensed his need for some form of closure, but he was still thankful that he'd decided his daughter needed him more. His face straightened as he remembered why he was here. "Got some news," he mumbled.

"And it's not good," Gibbs guessed.

"No, it's not. The case is no longer active, Hernandez will remain on our wanted list but it looks unlikely he'll ever return to the States." He let out an annoyed growl. "We can't do anything."

Gibbs felt the expected rush of anger, but he forced it down, he'd made his decision and he knew that the consequences meant that Hernandez would still be out there instead of in Hell where he belonged. He stared down at the swill they called coffee in here. "Thanks for letting me know," he finally forced out.

Mike nodded and the two men sat in silence for a few minutes before Mike asked, "So what now?"

"I'm gonna leave the Corp, concentrate on being a parent."

"Right. Mike pushed his hand into his pocket and extracted a white card with a scrawl of black writing across it. "Take sometime and think about what you want, 'bout what's best for you and the little one, then if you want give me a call. We're always needing new Agents."

Gibbs looked up at him in bewilderment. "Why me?"

Mike shrugged, tugging at his wrinkled suit jacked as he replied. "Gut feeling. Until then, Gunny."

He stared after the departing man, and shaking his head he shoved the card into his own pocket, it was far too soon to think about a new career. Franks was right, he needed time, time to grieve, time to help Kelly heal. His head snapped up as Joanne stepped out the room and prepared himself for another battle, the woman had become more hostile towards him over the past forty eight hours. She stared down at him. "I'm going to need a key to your house," she informed him.

"Why?"

"To get Kelly's things together, start sending them to my house."

Gibbs felt his stomach plummet into his boots. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Oh come on!" she scoffed. "I think we both know that Kelly will be better off with me."

"No we don't both know that," he replied sharply. "I appreciate your concern but Kelly is staying with me."

"And what about your precious Marines?"

"I'm leaving, I'll get a job in D.C. once Kelly is settled and back at school. You can't uproot her from her home, from her friends, not after everything she's just went through, and I won't even let you try," he told her coldly.

Joanne bristled in indignation. "She needs a female influence in her life, and a stable figure to lean on-"

"I'm going to be that."

"Oh please!" she scoffed. "Spare me the platitudes."

Gibbs stared at his mother in law, he didn't like her a fact that he wasn't even going to try and deny, but she did love her granddaughter and he did believe that she wanted the best for her, and Shannon would want her in Kelly's life. Shannon had always told him that her mother's hostility came from the fear that she was being pushed out of her only family's life. With that thought driving him, he pushed ahead. "I have a compromise for you. What's best for Kelly is to have both of us there for her, and I will need to work, so I was thinking that you move to D.C. to your own house of course, and that you see Kelly whenever you want, you could even look after her after school."

Joanne stared at him for a brief moment, brushing a strand of fading auburn hair off her cheek, her eyes widening as she took in the offer he'd just made. Finally she nodded. "I'd like that she replied carefully.

"Good, we can talk about it more later, but for now I want to go back into see Kelly." He turned and walked away. In the past few days his life had turned upside down, and he had no idea what his future held anymore.


	2. Chapter 1

**April 1996**

"The school phoned today," Diane informed Gibbs tetchily.

He sighed and laid the screwdriver he'd been using to one side. "What for this time?"

"She's been talking back to the teachers. Again."

"Which one.?"

"I don't know!" Diane snapped. "I have better things to do than listen to people whine on about your nightmare of a daughter."

Gibbs turned cold blue eyes on his wife. "That's enough."

"It's not, she's surly, rude, un-cooperative." She held up her hands in annoyance. "I could go on and on all day."

Something she frequently did, Gibbs reflected in vague annoyance. Diane made no effort to understand or even talk to Kelly and yet she expected respect and deference from her in return. He sighed, staring at the concrete floor, preferring that to Diane's malicious expression. The marriage was on it's last legs, he knew it, but he just didn't want to be the one to put Kelly through yet another change. He rubbed at his forehead, two divorces in three years didn't look good by anyone's standards, he should really try to fix this, he just didn't really want to. As for Kelly's recent behaviour, he had hoped it was just a phase she was going through, she was thirteen now after all. Looking back up at Diane, he asked, "So what do you suggest?"

She smiled almost triumphantly and already Gibbs bitterly regretted even asking the question. "Well," she replied slowly. "She obviously isn't happy here with us, I mean you've seen the way she talks to me-"

"I've spoken to her about that," he cut in, deciding not to bring up the fact that Diane didn't help herself when it came to Kelly, they'd had many arguments in the past few months over how Diane spoke to Kelly, as though she were just a nuisance and nothing more.

"I know you have," Diane conceded through gritted teeth. "But it hasn't helped, has it?" She didn't wait for a reply before concluding brightly, "So I have the perfect solution, she moves in with Joanne."

Gibbs felt his mood blacken to an extent that it hadn't been in over five years. "What?" he bit out quietly, only just resisting the urge to slam his now clenched fists into the side of his boat - Diane's ideas tended to have that effect on him.

"Think about it, it's what's best for everyone."

"No, it's what's best for you. This has nothing to do with what Kelly or I want. Kelly stays here, with me."

"But she hates me!" Diane wailed petulantly.

"Then make more of an effort with her," he snapped back unsympathetically. "You're meant to be the adult for Christ sake."

Her face took on a pouting edge as she tried a new tact. "Jethro, if she's unhappy the way things are now, how bad do you think she's going to be when the baby gets here."

Gibbs felt his jaw slacken in horror, somehow he managed to splutter out, "Are you-" He waved his hand at her stomach unable to quite get the words out. He really didn't want a baby with Diane, hell right now he didn't want to have so much as a drink with her.

"Not yet," she replied. "But I've decided to stop taking my pill today, it surely won't take that long."

Gibbs shoulders slumped in relief at the reprieve. "Diane," he told her firmly. "I'm not going to have baby with you, especially not when Kelly isn't even settled. i think it's better to wait until she's happy, no point in rocking the boat."

Her eyes blazed in sudden fury. "Jethro I'm thirty four years old, you're thirty eight, we don't have all the time in the world for this!"

"We have plenty of time," he scoffed.

"Yes, but I want a baby now! We've been married for ten months, if Kelly hasn't accepted me now then it simply isn't going to happen. Jethro I'm lonely, you avoid me like the plague and so does she, we need to fix this-"

"A baby isn't going to do that," he interrupted her.

"It's a new start for us."

"No."

Her lips tightened into a thin line. "I don't think I've made myself clear, I want a baby and I want more of your time."

He turned to face her. "Don't give me an ultimatum," he warned her. "You won't like the answer."

"You Bastard!" she choked out. "I'll leave," she proceded to warn him.

He shrugged. "Not gonna stop you."

The next thing he knew she let out an ear piercing scream of anger and smacked something across his head. "You smug, self righteous Son of a Bitch!" she shrieked at him.

He stared at her, stumbling slightly on his feet as he belated noticed the heavy plank of wood she now held in her hand. He brought his hand up to his head dazedly, wincing at the pain and feeling the warmth of the blood that was oozing from the wound. She merely stared at him for a moment, as though she couldn't quite believe she'd finally snapped. Then as suddenly as she'd picked it up she dropped the plank and sent him a vicious look. "You know what? You deserved that," she told him, before turning and storming up the basement stairs.

He waited until he heard the front door slam before picking up the cordless phone he kept on his workbench and dialling a familiar number.

* * *

Patting at his jacket pocket, Ducky swiftly located the spare key he'd been given to the house and let himself inside. He glanced up the stairs as he took in the steady thrum of some form of music being played rather loudly from that direction, and shook his head with a small smile playing about his lips. Ah to be young again, he thought.

Remembering the reason for his visit, Ducky resumed his journey to the basement and stopped halfway on the somewhat rickety staircase, tutting as he took in the sight of Jethro sitting on a stool, a blood soaked tea towel clamped to his head. "What happened?" he asked pulling another stool over so that he could sit in front of him.

Gibbs lowered the cloth from his head, wincing as he did so. "Think Diane's gonna leave me."

"You look so devastated."

He shot Ducky a dirty look. "She wanted a baby. No, actually first she wanted Kelly to move out and then she wanted us to have a baby." Gibbs scowl deepened at the mere memory. "I said no and she smacked me in the face with a wooden plank."

"Yes I can see the splinters," Ducky commented dryly, rummaging in his medical bag. "So," he sighed. "I take it she delivered an ultimatum and didn't like the answer."

"Dunno why she ever thought I'd even considering getting rid of Kelly. I know she's not the easiest but she's a teenager! And she's still my little girl." Gibbs shook his head. "What the hell was she thinking!"

"Keep your head still, Jethro," Ducky admonished. "I need to pick these splinters out." Holding his tweezers firmly in one hand, Ducky sighed again and finally answered Gibbs question. "As wrong as Diane was to throw that at you, you are not entirely innocent here."

"What did I do?" He protested petulantly.

"You married entirely the wrong woman. She never showed any interest in playing the loving stepmother-"

"I thought that would change, I was just glad that she didn't want to try and be a replacement Mom to her."

"Like Laura?"

"Yeah." Gibbs lip curled at the memory of his adulterous second wife. She'd looked like butter wouldn't melt, but it turned out thatshe was nowhere near as innocent as she looked. Although in fairness their marriage had already been on the skids when he'd returned from a case in another state to find her in bed with her gym instructor. She'd left that day, saying that at least he wasn't emotionally distant. After that fateful day apart from the information sent via her lawyer regarding the divorce, neither he or Kelly ever heard from her again.

Ducky used a cotton swab to wipe away a trickle of blood. "Maybe next time it would be wise not to rush from dating into marriage. I know you want Kelly to have a stable family unit but this tact obviously isn't working."

He glared at his friend. "You're beginning to sound judgemental."

"I'm merely concerned." He stared at the wound intently and added, "This is definitely going to leave a nasty bruise, but the gash itself is clean and although it doesn't need stitches I'm still going to dress it. Are you sure it's over?" He asked, switching the topic back to Diane.

"Yeah." Gibbs told him firmly, not bothering to add that even if she did come back, after her attitude regarding Kelly he didn't want anything to do with her.

* * *

Tying her light brown hair into a loose ponytail, Kelly ran down the stairs, grabbing the backpack that was looped over the edge of the banister and heading into the kitchen. She stopped short at the sight of her Dad's bruised face. "Ouch!" she commented.

He pushed a bowl of cereal towards her. "It looks worse than it is."

"A suspect or Diane?" Kelly asked casually, sprinkling a liberal amount of sugar onto the food.

Gibbs snatched the sugar away. "You'll get cavities," he warned her.

"You gonna answer the question?"

"Diane."

"So she's gone?" Kelly asked hopefully.

"No she came back last night, she's asleep upstairs." He wasn't about to tell his daughter that if she was still there tonight he was going to ask her to leave.

"Oh." Kelly grimaced and headed through to the table in the dining room with her cereal, dropping into a seat she watched as he did the same. "What?" she asked impatiently as he stared at her intently.

"I know about the school calling yesterday."

Kelly frowned into her cereal and shovelling a spoonful into her mouth, she shrugged in an attempt to stay calm. "So?" she mumbled.

"So what did you do this time?"

"Nothing!"

"They said you were answering back."

"If you know then why ask?"

"Kelly," Gibbs growled warningly. "We've talked about this, you need to learn to keep your head down."

Dropping her spoon into the bowl she announced, "I'm not really hungry anymore."

"Eat it."

She sighed irritably. "I need to go."

"I can give you a lift, just like I used to." His face lit up with a small smile at the memory of a younger Kelly chattering happily away as he drove her to school.

The present Kelly however pulled a face of pure disgust. "In the truck! Nu uh, no I don't want anyone to see me getting out of that hunk of junk. I'll take the bus with my friends."

"Will Maddy be on it?"

"I don't know! We're not friends anymore, I told you that!" With that she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Goodbye."

"Bye," Gibbs called after her tiredly. He stared down at his own breakfast and cursed, he felt deflated and irritated which seemed to be the way he always felt after a conversation with Kelly recently. He rubbed at his forehead, she'd changed over the past few months and he had no idea if that was normal or if he should be concerned. He glanced down at his watch, he'd have to think about it later or he was going to be late to work.

* * *

"Hey," Kelly smiled as she flounced down onto the seat next to her friend Sophie.

"Hey. Any exciting news?"

"Not sure yet, ask me tomorrow."

"Oh now that sounds like big news."

"Diane might finally be leaving."

"Nice."

"Yeah. What about you? Been up to much?"

"Usual, we went out last night, had some chat. You should have came with."

"You know I'm not allowed."

"That's so tragic," Chloe commented as she joined in on the conversation, rolling her heavily lined eyes ahe stated, "You need a life."

"My Dad won't let me have one, he treats me like I'm two!" Kelly smiled at her friend. "You look pretty today."

Chloe flicked her hair dismissively. "I look a total state."

"No you don't, I look like shit."

"You should wear make up," Chloe advised her. Kelly's face fell. She'd expected her friend to reassure her that she looked fine. Chloe continued unheeded. "You should make more of an effort, Kel. No one likes girls who don't make an effort."

Kelly looked down at her light pink shirt and jeans, then back over at Sophie and Chloe's made up faces. "I don't have any make up."

"Then get some." She pulled a tub of lip-gloss out of her bag and as she applied it she asked, "Can I copy your maths? I couldn't be bothered doing mine and my Mom's so going to ground me if I get another detention."

"Yeah of course you can."

"Well no offence but you have to have your uses if you're not going to hang out with us at night."

"Yeah," Kelly laughed uneasily at her friend's words.

* * *

**My first attempt at writing a teenager. How did I do?**

**I'm trying to make her as realistic as possible, I hate overly perfect teenagers in fics because they just don't exist in real life. So if I start to get it wrong let me know.**

**Thanks for all the reviews so far. They do encourage me to keep going, I really love them :)**


	3. Chapter 2

Kelly shuffled her feet almost awkwardly as she watched her friends pass around the lone cigarette that Chloe had somehow managed to acquire. She watched as her friend took a long drag and held it out to her. She shook her head. "Nah, it's ok," she mumbled

Chloe rolled her eyes and shot her a pitying look as she leaned further forward, pushing the smoking item directly under Kelly's nose, causing her to cough slightly. "Don't be so boring! Try it, you never know you might even enjoy yourself for once."

Continuing to look at it doubtfully, Kelly shook her head. "No, no I don't want it."

Giving an irritated sigh, Chloe passed it instead to Tracy and turned her brown eyes back on Kelly. "You know Kel, you're getting really really boring!"

"I just don't think I'll like it."

"You know I'm starting to think that you don't really fit in with us. I mean you don't come out with us-"

"That's not my fault!" Kelly protested. "You know I want to come out with you-"

"There are always ways."

"Not with my Dad," she mumbled.

"I'm just saying that maybe you want to find other people to hang out with," Chloe continued and she giggled maliciously. "Like Penny Fairfax, she's boring too."

Kelly swallowed uncomfortably as the others broke into peals of laughter and launched into a round of mocking Penny, who was tall, gangly with both braces and glasses. "Oh God!" Sophie laughed. "Did you see her at lunch yesterday, she tripped and went flying, she was covered in soup!"

"Yeah, just think Kelly, you and her can swap tips on doing your maths homework," Chloe teased.

Feeling more than a little desperate, Kelly lunged forward and grabbed the cigarette mid pass. "I can do interesting things," she said as she inhaled deeply and triggered a massive coughing fit.

"Don't worry," Chloe assured her, smiling now that she'd gotten her own way. "You get used to it."

Kelly nodded and passed the cigarette blindly onwards. "What about the smell on my clothes?"

"Oh that's easy," Lisa scoffed. "You change when you get in and just get some body spray, no one ever knows." She stubbed out the now depleted stick out with her toe. "Chloe you got some with you."

"Yup," the girl opened her bag and pulled out a small red aerosol can. She sprayed herself liberally and threw it over to her friend. "Knock yourself out."

Smiling, Lisa offered it to Kelly, as she took it Lisa nudged her, whispering, "See, not so hard."

* * *

Standing at the bus door waiting for the vehicle to draw to a halt, Kelly could feel Maddy's disapproving eyes boring into her. "What!" she snapped.

The blonde girl shrugged. "Nothing," she mumbled.

Kelly shot her a glare for good measure as the doors finally opened. Jumping off the bus, she walked the few yards to her own house, letting herself inside. Her frown deepened when she heard the noise emanating from the living room. Stepping forward, she leaned against the arch and crossed her arms, watching as Diane dismantled the TV. "That's not yours," she pointed out.

Diane's head snapped up. "Oh good," she drawled sarcastically. "You're home."

As the woman turned back to pulling the wires out of the back of the TV, Kelly tried again, this time she was louder as she repeated, "That isn't yours!"

"Well I decided I deserved a little something extra for putting up with you and your Dad for so long."

"Oh well in that case what do we get for putting up with you?" Kelly asked casually, knowing that it annoyed Diane the most when she didn't rise to the bait.

Diane's nostrils flared as she let her breath out in an annoyed hiss, she whirled to face the petite teenager, her hands on her hips. "You," she spat. "Are the most unpleasant child I've ever had the misfortune to meet!"

"Because you're all sunshine and light."

"I could have made your Dad happy, does it make you proud to know that you've ruined our marriage?"

"I think the fact that you're a miserable cow had more to do with my Dad choosing me over you." Kelly took in the surprised look on Diane's face. "Yeah," she snarled. "I know all about what you said last night." She'd had enough of this now, she hated Diane and she was so glad to see that she was finally leaving. Ignoring Diane's rant, she walked through to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed the orange juice, pouring herself a liberal sized glass of the liquid, and walking back through to the table. Flopping down into a seat, she watched as Diane lugged the TV out of the room, and shook her head. She pulled out her science homework, figuring she may as well do something to keep herself occupied, that and it was biology, she didn't actually mind that subject.

A loud thud from the direction of upstairs caught her attention, she frowned, her lips twisting disapprovingly as she realised that Diane seemed determined to ransack the house before she went. Tapping her pencil against her mouth, Kelly shrugged, at least she was going. She'd always hated Diane, the woman had always made it perfectly clear that she just wasn't interested in her, although it had been a thousand times worse after the wedding. Before the wedding Kelly had actually been quite relieved that Diane didn't pretend that she was her Mom like Laura had done. Kelly bit into her bottom lip, she'd actually liked Laura at first, she thought she'd cared, although it had been a bit weird when at the wedding reception she'd hugged her and declared brightly that now she could call her Mom.

Kelly giggled at the memory, her Dad's jaw had hit the floor and her Gran had looked like her head was about to explode. The giggles stopped abruptly as the memories continued to rise up, yeah Laura had been nice at first, saying that she loved her, that she wouldn't leave and then doing it anyway, for all her supposed love and their 'close' relationship, Laura had left without a word and she'd never heard from her again. So she'd thought that Diane would be better, she wasn't false, if she didn't care then she couldn't hurt her. The main problem with being that Diane was actually just a heartless bitch who didn't want her life to include Kelly in any way shape or form.

Her eyes scanned over the first question, her fingers twirling absentmindedly with a strand of her hair. It didn't really matter anymore, her Dad had picked her, so ding dong the bitch was dead.

The clatter of footsteps and the heavy slam of the front door accompanied by the squeal of tyres, signalled Diane's final departure from the house. Kelly sipped at her juice through the crazy straw she'd located, crossing her eyes to watch the liquid swoop and swirl.

She missed her Mom, she didn't want a replacement, not that anyone could ever replace her anyway. Although she sometimes wondered how she and her Mom would have got on, if they would have argued a lot or if she'd be the one that she could always turn to for help. She knew that her Dad loved her, and that he'd do anything for her, but it just wasn't the same, there were a lot of things that she just didn't want to talk to her Dad about, because it would just be cringe-worthy.

* * *

Letting himself into the house, Gibbs headed in the direction of the dining area as that was where some form of music was blaring from.

On seeing her Dad walk into the room, Kelly hit the power button letting the room fall into silence. He gave her an absent-minded smile as he asked almost apprehensively, "Where's Diane?"

Kelly's smile faltered and she blinked rapidly, her hatred for her hopefully soon to be ex stepmother skyrocketed, how could she not tell her Dad that she was leaving him, what a total cow! She winced, hoping that he wouldn't be upset, and very quietly told him, "Dad, turn around."

He frowned at her, but followed the request. As soon as he saw the blank spot where the TV had previously resided he knew what had happened. "She cleared out the place then," he stated to no-one in particular.

"Uh huh, she's taken a bunch of stuff out of the kitchen too, including the coffee maker and the blender."

Gibbs frowned. "She's never used the blender, you use it for those fruit things."

"Probably why she took it," Kelly mumbled darkly, adding as an afterthought, "And they're called smoothies, Dad."

He turned to face her again. "Were you here when she left?"

"Yeah."

His face creased worriedly. "She didn't say anything to you, did she?"

Kelly shrugged. "Just her usual."

"What was her usual?" Gibbs asked. He knew that Diane had never been overly pleasant to Kelly, but he wasn't sure what she actually said to her, although he had broached the subject of her attitude towards the teenager on numerous occasions.

"I'm a spoiled selfish brat apparently." Gibbs dropped down into the chair next to his daughter, and shook his head sadly. Kelly's eyes narrowed worriedly and she was suddenly filled with a rush of guilt as she wondered whether what Diane had said about her wrecking the marriage was true. So she asked, "Dad, are you really upset that she's gone?"

Gibbs wrapped his arm around her, hugging her as far into his side as the chairs would allow. "No," he replied, kissing the top of her head. "Just sorry that I let her stay so long," he told his daughter candidly.

She shrugged. "S'okay," she mumbled. Then looking up at him she shot him a cheeky grin and said, "Just next time don't feel you have to get married. You'll start to get a reputation."

Gibbs laughed. "Tell you what, next time I'll come and ask for your permission before I propose."

"Deal," Kelly replied, giggling. "But you won't get it."

"I can live with that, we're not a bad team, just the two of us."

Her ponytail waggled and bobbed as she shook her head. "Better than having to put up with Diane, although the bubonic plague's probably better than her."

"Hmmm." He was inclined to agree with his daughter's character assassination, but he wasn't sure that he should be encouraging her, so he changed the subject. "Tell you what, how about I cook tonight?"

"Or we could save time and just get the takeout we'll end up getting anyway after you burn everything."

"Don't be so cheeky."

"It's the truth."

"Not the point, Kels. Now pizza or Chinese?"

"Chinese," she replied decisively. And as they pulled out and poured over the menu together a relative and unusual calm spread over the house.


	4. Chapter 3

"You sleep well?" Gibbs asked his daughter as he walked into the kitchen the next day.

"Meh," she replied disinterestedly as she tipped some cold Chinese noodles into a bowl.

Reaching across the counter, Gibbs grabbed the bowl. "That isn't a proper breakfast," he reminded her.

"Dad!" she wailed in protest.

Gibbs raised his eyebrow, well at least he'd managed to gain her attention. "I'm not changing my mind about this, go and get some cereal or toast." Then he added as an afterthought, "And have some fruit as well."

"Are you having fruit?" she asked pointedly.

"You can stand and argue about this all you want but you'll be eating a proper breakfast before you leave the house in the morning."

Letting out a loud noise of disgust, Kelly stamped her feet as she moved towards the cereal cupboard, grabbing a box and snatching an apple out of the fruit bowl, glaring at it as though it was about to burst into flames. She took a large bit and after swallowing it, barked, "Happy?"

"Once you eat all of it, yes."

He watched as Kelly's mouth twitched and she tried to stop herself from smiling. Now that Diane was gone they seemed to have finally fallen into a truce and the house was infinitely more peaceful. Her blue eyes glanced up from under her heavy fringe, and she took another bit from her apple, this time a lot more gently as she walked through to the table. Grabbing his own coffee, Gibbs followed her and told her, "I spoke to your Gran."

Kelly frowned, her Dad and Gran very rarely spoke and when they did it revolved around her. "About Diane?" she asked curiously.

"That did come up," Gibbs admitted somewhat awkwardly, really not wanting to remember that part of the conversation he'd been forced to have with his mother-in-law. "But we mainly spoke about you."

"There's a surprise," she mumbled.

Raising a warning eyebrow at his daughter, Gibbs continued, "I've arranged all the details for you going back there after school."

Kelly's spoon hit the plate and she gaped at her Dad. "What do you mean?"

"Well now that there isn't going to be anyone in the house when you get back from school, you're going to need to start spending a couple of hours a night there like you used to." He gave her an encouraging smile. "Your Gran spoils you rotten, you'll love it."

"I'm not five!" she protested. "I'm thirteen! I should be allowed to come here after school."

"No," he replied shortly.

"That's not fair!"

Gibbs sighed, well that truce hadn't lasted long. He stared across at her. "My main concern isn't fairness. You are too young to stay here by yourself."

"I was here last night by myself and I didn't burst into flames," she snapped back.

His lips tightened, he was not at all impressed with Diane walking out and leaving Kelly all by herself, although in retrospect it didn't really surprise him that she'd done it. "That shouldn't have happened and it won't happen again."

"I think I should get to stay here," Kelly repeated stubbornly. "I don't want to go to Gran's all the time."

"The answer is no, it's too long for you to sit in here alone."

"If you'd let me go out I wouldn't be in here for more than an hour."

"You are not hanging about the streets."

"They go to the park," Kelly scoffed in a mixture of annoyance and disgust.

"I don't care. I've made my decision."

"I cant believe you didn't even bother to ask me what I think about this."

"You're my responsibility, it's my job to keep you safe, I love you." Gibbs told her.

The chair scrapped against the floor as Kelly shoved it backwards and jumped to her feet. "Well you didn't care that much about me when you married that last bitch! You don't care about me at all!"

"That's enough!" Gibbs roared back. "You need to watch your language! And you will not talk to me like that."

"You can't stop me," Kelly snarled. She scowled and snatched her rucksack. "I'm going to school." Her lip curled. "And no," she added. "I don't want a lift from you."

As the front door slammed shut, Gibbs squeezed his eyes shut, he was really struggling to deal with her mood swings now and he had no idea how to deal with her, everything he did was wrong and he just seemed to make her miserable.

* * *

"I hate my life!" Kelly declared as she dropped into her seat on the bus.

"Diane still there then?" Sophie asked.

"No, she's gone, took the TV thought."

"Bitch."

"Yeah, I know."

"So if it's not her, then what?"

"Since she isn't the house to watch me, or ignore me which is what she actually did, I have to go to my Gran's house from now on."

"That sucks."

"Yup."

Chloe leaned backwards, her eyes trailing over Kelly. "You want to come shopping this weekend? Or are you not allowed?" She mocked.

Kelly eagerly replied, "I'd love to, it should be fine, I don't see why it wouldn't be."

"Good, we can get you some make-up, you look really tired. Concealer will hide the big shadows under your eyes."

Kelly brushed a finger over the thin skin surrounding her eye and frowned, were they really that obvious? Her smile slightly smaller now, she nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Awesome. Did anyone do the biology homework?"

Kelly and Sophie replied simultaneously, "Yes." and "Some of it."

"You did your homework again!"

"I was bored," Kelly shrugged. "I'm not allowed out and Diane took most of our stuff."

"So sad," Chloe snorted. "You are such a suck up! No wonder you passed that class test, I bet you even studied for it."

"A little bit, I suppose." Kelly shifted awkwardly in her seat under Chloe's glare.

"It's like you're trying to make me look bad!" Chloe held out her hand. "Gimme it, I need to copy some."

"There's quite a lot-"

"I'm not going to copy all of it, just enough to say I tried and couldn't do it."

Handing over the book, Kelly slumped back in her seat and stared resignedly out the window as her friends spoke about what they'd done the night before.

* * *

"Gibbs!" He snapped into his cell phone as a greeting.

Diane's cold tone floated over the other end of the line. "I'm just phoning to let you know that I now have a lawyer and all further contact will be through him."

"Fine," Gibbs shrugged.

"That's all you have to say!" Diane's tone grew more harsh, and she was very obviously annoyed by his lack of reaction. "I've walked out on you and all you can manage is _fine_!"

"What is it you want me to say," he replied coolly. "You've emptied the house of half my stuff, emptied our joint account and left my daughter alone in the house at night. You've taken your pound of flesh now, Diane."

"I haven't even started," she warned him. "I'm entitled to what I took! And as for Kelly," she spat the name out like it would choke her. "She is your daughter and the main plus side in this divorce is that I don't have to have anything more to do with her," she concluded triumphantly, confident that that statement would get her the reaction she wanted. He had always jumped to Kelly's defence.

Instead he replied, "Well I need to go, have a case. I'll talk to your lawyer from now on just like you want. Goodbye."

He didn't wait to hear the screams of irritation, he didn't have to. Looking up he saw Burley grinning at him almost nervously. "Trouble in paradise?" he asked teasingly.

"You found that car yet?" Gibbs asked in return, throwing in a glare for good measure.

"No, it's disappeared Boss, I just can't find it."

"Try harder, our murderer used that car to get the Hell out of dodge. If he knows there was CCTV at the opening to the ally, he's going to ditch it. We need to find it before that happens."

"I'm on it, sent out a BOLO, I'm asking around Petty Officer Dobson's colleagues to see if they know anyone with that make and I checked the permits for cars that are allowed to park on base. Nothing."

"Just find it, Steve," Gibbs sighed tiredly.

"It's Stan."

Gibbs ignored his protest, saying, "I need to go and see the Director."

He ran up the stairs and moved swiftly through the outer office, ignoring the calls of Morrow's assistant Helen, asking him to wait and instead walked straight into the man's office. "You wanted to see me, Sir."

Morrow looked up from his paperwork. "I did, yes. How's the case?"

"We're having trouble tracing the car, but we'll get there."

The older man raised an eyebrow. "Of that I have no doubt." His eyes narrowed. Gibbs was definitely in a mood over something and he wanted to know what it was. "How's that wife of yours?"

"Soon to be ex wife," Gibbs mumbled lowly.

"Ah. My sympathies."

"For the best." He shuffled on his foot and glanced down at his watch. "I'm sure you didn't call me up here to discuss my marriage."

"No I didn't. I called you up here to inform you that from Monday you'll have a new Probationary Agent."

"I don't need one."

"You're getting one. You need a new team member."

"Steve and I manage."

If Morrow noticed that Gibbs called his fellow Agent by the wrong name he didn't comment on it, instead telling him, "You are a Major Response team and like it or not our cases have been on the increase, you'll work quicker with another team member."

"Not with a Probie."

"They came top in all aspects of their training. And you don't get an option on this, part of your job is to train new Agents. You never know you might find you enjoy it."

Gibbs let out a low growl, and finally conceded grumpily. "Of course, Sir."

Morrow held out the manila coloured file. "All the details you'll need including their marks in training."

Looking at the file, Gibbs eyes scanned the name and felt his stomach sink. "This Probie's a woman."

"Yes," Morrow replied in amusement. "I'm well aware of that. Is there a problem?"

"Not if she's capable of doing her job, but she's not getting any special treatment."

"I'm sure she doesn't expect it. You'll meet her on Monday, since you saw yourself in I trust you can see yourself out."

Grumbling, Gibbs returned to the bull-pit to find Burley smiling triumphantly. "Found the car, it belongs to his colleague, a Petty Officer Hanlon."

"Is he on base?"

"Meant to be."

"Then grab your jacket, we'll go and get him."

Stan lunged towards his jacket and running beside Gibbs he attempted to pull it on quickly. "You get on Ok with the Director?"

"Fine, we're getting a new Agent next week."

"A Probie?" Stan asked delightedly, thinking of all the tricks and jokes he could play on them.

"Yup." Gibbs ignored Stan's smile, he actually found it amusing to picture the man's face when he realised the Probie he was planning to torment was a woman.

* * *

"Darling!" Joanne cried out in delight as Kelly let herself into the small bungalow, pulling her into a tight hug. Drawing back slightly she stroked a stray strand of hair off the young girl's cheek. "I heard about Diane leaving, you poor thing, having to go through that."

Kelly frowned. "Actually I'm quite glad she's gone. I hated her."

"I know, she wasn't your mother."

She didn't reply to that, in all honesty she thought that was an incredibly stupid thing to say, of course she wasn't her mother, but that had nothing to do with why she hated her. That was purely down to her personality. Joanne cupped her hand under her cheek and sighed. "Well never mind I'll take care of you. I've made your dinner, it will be ready in five minutes so go and wash up."

Kelly sighed, but did as she was asked. Brilliant she thought as she stomped through to the bathroom, she could now spend her evenings watching old people TV and listening to reasons why Diane could never have compared to her Mom and how it was no wonder it didn't work out, and when would her father learn.

She scrubbed her hands viciously, she'd most likely have to talk about how school was as well. God this sucked!

Her bad mood grew as she realised that her Dad was obviously working later tonight. He finally arrived to pick her up just before eight, by which point she had resigned herself to staring mutinously at the book she was reading for English and trying to ignore her Gran.

She glared up at him as he stepped into the living room. He offered her a smile. "You ready to go?"

"Yes." She grabbed her stuff, knowing that her Dad was desperate to get out of there before her Gran could lecture him on the breakdown of his marriage. Suddenly she stopped, an idea coming to her. "Dad can I go shopping with my friends at the weekend?"

He frowned. "We can talk about it when we get home, come on."

"It's just a yes or no answer. And I'd really like to go, I have money saved up."

As Kelly expected her Gran jumped to her defence. "I think that sounds like fun, and you need some fun to distract you from all the changes going on in your life." She shot Gibbs a pointed glare.

"Who's driving you in and taking you home?"

"We'd be taking the bus."

"No."

"Dad! That's not fair, Gran tell him that I'm capable of taking the bus into town. After all I take the bus to school."

"That is true." Joanne nodded. "And she's very responsible."

"You can go but I'll be driving you in."

Kelly hid a triumphant smile, all she wanted was to be able to go, she didn't care how she got there. "Thank you, Dad."

His eyes narrowed. He had the most horrible feeling she'd just played him.


	5. Chapter 4

**Monday**

Giving herself one last look-over in the mirror, Kelly gave a small smile at her reflection. Her make-up looked exactly like her friends and she'd applied just as Chloe had shown her the day before. Pushing her make-up into her top drawer so that her Dad wouldn't find it, she grabbed her bag and ran downstairs, feeling triumphant.

On hearing his daughter thunder down the stairs, Gibbs splashed some milk into the cereal he was putting out for her and moving into the dining-room he placed it on the table for her. He looked up as he heard her small footsteps enter the room, and the smile that had been on his face dropped when he saw her.

Her face itself was caked in something that made her face look a strange peachy colour, while her cheeks had an odd bright pink hue to them. He blinked slowly, that strange colour combination aside, the most frightening aspect of her new look was her eyes. They looked as though she'd went around the tip of her lower lid with black pen, and she had so much dark eye shadow on that she looked as though she had two black eyes. "What?" He asked slowly. "Is on your face?"

Her hand went up and touched her face self-consciously, even as she gave him a defensive shrug. "It's make-up," she mumbled.

His frown deepened, his voice becoming slightly louder. "Where the hell did you get make-up?"

"I bought it, with the money I'd saved up." Kelly folded her arms across herself and sent him a matching glare.

"That money wasn't to be spent on…that!" He waved his hand at her face as if to emphasise his point.

"You said I could spend it on what I wanted!" Kelly protested, her eyes blazing with the perceived unfairness.

"Not on that! You're too young to wear that…muck!" he finally spat out.

For a moment his daughter's defensive stance faltered and she swallowed nervously before composing herself. "All my friends wear it."

The brief flash of sympathy he'd just had for her melted away as her sullen tone reached his ears. "I don't care what you're friends wear or do, you will follow my rules," he warned her lowly.

Her jaw tightened and jutted out determinedly. "I bought it, so it's mine and I can wear it whenever I want."

"You'll go upstairs and take it off yourself or I'll hold you over the kitchen sink and scrub it off!" he barked at her, his blood boiling.

She didn't even flinch. "I'm not taking it off," she replied stubbornly.

He had only taken one step forward when the phone began to ring shrilly. Mumbling under his breath, he nodded towards the chair behind her breakfast, telling her, "This isn't finished, sit there and eat your breakfast, I'll be back in a minute."

Kelly dropped into the seat, continuing to glare mutinously as she prodded at the now soggy cereal with her spoon listening into the rather one sided conversation that was taking place in the kitchen.

Gibbs grabbed the house phone - fully intending to cut the conversation of as quickly as it started - barking into the receiver, "Gibbs!"

It was his lawyer, he listened for a minute and his mood blackened even further. "I don't care what her grounds are! She's not getting my house!" He ran his hand through hair that was beginning to grey. He should have known that Diane would have tried something like this, not that she had any right to this place, he'd bought the house with Shannon and Diane had never contributed a penny towards the mortgage or any upkeep it had required, such as the roof he'd replaced the winter before. That being said, Diane was quite capable of pulling some dirty tricks to get what she wanted.

His hand slammed down onto the counter top in frustration - not that he noticed the stinging pain in his hand. He listened for a brief moment to his lawyers suggestion, his eyes closing in disbelief as he heard the man tell him that if he paid her a generous settlement she'd drop her claim on the house. Those eyes flew open again when he heard the amount. "She wants how much! And how am I meant to get it, sell a kidney!"

He shook his head, he really couldn't believe this, it really was the morning from hell. He looked up at the doorway to see Kelly standing there, he moved his head away from the receiver momentarily, mouthing, "What?"

"I'm going to school," she told him. "If I don't go now I'll miss the bus."

"I'll drive you. You're not going out like that."

"Yes I am," she replied primly as she turned away from the doorway.

He was just about to throw the phone to one side and go after her when he heard his lawyers next words. "That money is my daughter's college fund! A fund she never made any contribution to, not that she ever made a contribution to anything! You can't seriously be telling me to hand that over to her."

A noise of disgust escaped his throat as he listened to the next suggestion that they up the amount in alimony she was to receive, with his lawyer assuring him that that agreement would only stand until Diane remarried. The only problem with that suggestion being that he was slightly worried that she wouldn't remarry again just to spite him. "Look," he finally got out. "I need to go. The house and the settlement check are a no go, I don't care what she claims. As for the alimony, I'll think about it and get back to you."

Finally he was able to hang up. He stared blankly at the wall in front of him, he couldn't believe this, he was more than likely have to hand over a ridiculous amount of money to Diane every month just to get rid of her, and his daughter had left the house looking like a clown. He groaned, slamming his head against the doorframe as he remembered that his female Probie started today.

* * *

Kelly flopped down onto her seat on the bus. Chloe gave her a quick once over and smiled. "You look good today."

"Thanks, my Dad freaked though."

Chloe waved her hand dismissively. "He let you wear it though."

"Only because I left the house while he was talking to his lawyer. Turns out Diane wants our house." Kelly bit down worriedly on her bottom lip, she hadn't wanted to show it in the house but she was really worried that Diane would get their home and they'd have to move. She wanted to stamp her foot in frustration, Diane had never even liked the house, she'd always moaned and whined about wanting to move out, get somewhere newer and bigger.

Chloe however just shrugged, not really caring for the subject. "She won't get it."

"You don't know that."

An annoyed sigh escaped from her friend. "Well there isn't any point in worrying about it, it's not like you can do anything." She flicked her hair over her shoulder and smiled. "I really like that eye shadow on you."

"Um, thanks," Kelly stuttered out. She was quietly thrilled by the compliment, but it wasn't quite enough for her to forget her worries about the house.

Sophie squeezed her arm reassuringly. "Look, I'm sure it really will all be fine. Your Dad will fix it."

Kelly smiled. "Yeah," she nodded. "He probably will."

"You know if you came out with us tonight, that would cheer you up," Sophie suggested.

"You know I can't-"

"Because she has such a long night of homework ahead of her," Chloe giggled.

Kelly winced slightly at her words. She blinked rapidly, barely thinking before blurting out, "I might be able to come out."

Chloe's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she leaned forward. "I thought you said your Dad wouldn't let you."

"He won't," Kelly replied slowly. "But he's not in at night, so that decision is really for whoever is looking after me. I probably couldn't stay out past six, but it's better than nothing."

"It's a start," Chloe agreed eagerly. She smiled in delight at the plan. "I knew that you would think of something. We meet at four, so don't be late."

"If I can get out, I'll be there," Kelly told her firmly.

* * *

By the time Gibbs arrived at the Agency his mood was blacker than black and it wasn't improved by the sight of Burley sitting at his desk looking like a child on Christmas morning, his face alight with the thought of having a new Agent to torment. He grinned almost inanely at Gibbs. "The Director wants to see you in his office," he informed him happily. "I think it's to introduce you to our new Probie."

"Didn't realise that you were able to read Morrow's thoughts," Gibbs growled.

Stan's face fell as he realised that his Boss was in the foulest mood he'd had the misfortune to encounter him in. "I…no…I can't read his mind." He frowned in concern and asked, "You alright Boss?"

"Fine."

"Anything to do with Diane?" Stan hazard a guess, most of his boss's recent bad moods tended to revolve around his soon to be ex-wife.

Gibbs gave a muttered growl in lieu of reply and Stan knew he had his answer and in the interest of self preservation decided to keep his head down as much as possible, and sent a silent prayer of thanks to whoever it concerned for making today the day they sent in fresh meat. He really appreciated it.

"I'll see you when I get back, and I want that report finished and on my desk by then."

Stan frowned. "I gave you the report."

"You might want to spell check it before you hand it over next time," Gibbs growled as he threw said report onto the desk in front of the younger man before charging up the stairs two at a time. He walked through into the Morrow's office, blatantly ignoring his secretary's calls of protests. The door had just fallen shut behind him when his eyes landed on the redhead seated in front of Morrow's desk. His mouth dried up, this just couldn't be possible, she couldn't be his new Probie, surely Morrow wasn't that twisted.

The man in question got to his feet. "Ah, Agent Gibbs I wanted to introduce you to your new Agent, this is Jennifer Sheppard."

The redhead got to her feet, and Gibbs couldn't help but glare at his grinning boss, before his gaze flew back to the woman standing in front of him. She came up to his nose, although as his gaze swept over her he realised that the only reason for that was the ridiculous four inch heels she had on. His eyes moved upwards again, over her long, jean clad legs and the curves of her waist and breasts. His jaw tensed as his eyes swept over her full lips and then finally locked onto her bright green eyes. He was screwed and he knew it, and he didn't know what the hell Morrow thought he was playing at, the man knew his penchant for redheads. Finally he shook her outstretched hand and was pleasantly surprised by her firm determined grip. He could hear Morrow's voice drone on in the background. "Agent Sheppard this is Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, he'll be your supervisory Agent, I'm placing you in his capable hands. I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine. Now if neither of you have any questions…"

"I would actually like to speak to you for a minute, Sir," Gibbs told him dryly. He inclined his head towards the door, telling his new Agent, "Wait outside."

Her lips pursed slightly at the order, as though her first reaction was to argue with him, but finally she nodded, and turning back to Director Morrow, she gave him a small smile, her husky voice hitting Gibbs ears and making his gut kink. "Thank you, Director Morrow. I have absolutely doubt that I can handle whatever's thrown at me."

Her green eyes slid back along to Gibbs, and he couldn't miss the challenge that was in her gaze, and he almost, almost felt a grudging pull of respect for her. He watched her go, and quickly jerked his head away when he realised that his eyes were involuntarily beginning to stray to her ass, it was a great ass though he admitted almost grudgingly to himself.

When the door was firmly shut, he looked over to where Morrow was standing smirking at him. "Problem, Agent Gibbs?" he inquired politely.

"I don't think this is going to work," he replied carefully.

"I think it will." Morrow dropped back into his office chair, grinning. "You complain when I give you Probationary Agents who don't know their backside from their elbow, so I've given you one who scored exceptionally well in all her training and who shows a massive amount of promise. There are a lot of people who have high hopes for her, so really you should feel honoured that you're training her."

"Her training isn't the issue here."

"Ah." Morrow shot him a knowing look. "She doesn't look as you expected."

"Not really," Gibbs admitted uncomfortably. He didn't have a problem with women in the field, and he'd came across attractive Agents in the past, just none of them had intrigued him as much as Jennifer Sheppard had in the very few minutes they'd spent together.

"I'm sure that it won't be an issue. You're both professionals." He looked up at him and stated firmly. "The decision has been made, Agent Sheppard shall remain on your team for as long as I see fit to keep her there. I hope you don't mind seeing yourself out."

As Morrow returned to his attention to his computer, Gibbs knew he'd been dismissed and sucking in a breath between tightly clenched teeth, he left the office.

He'd half expected his new Probie to be lounging casually against the wall - in fact he'd been looking forward to yelling at her for it - instead she was standing upright waiting for him. He motioned for her to follow him.

She kept up with his pace easily. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her brush a curled lock of her fiery red hair behind her ear. "So, what do I call you?" she asked casually.

"Gibbs," he grunted.

Despite his gruff reply, she sent him a quick smile in greeting. "Jenny."

He nodded in acknowledgment but didn't contribute anything else to the conversation. He'd thought this would un-nerve her. It didn't, in fact she seemed quite comfortable with the silence that had enveloped them.

Frowning at this odd turn of events, he led her into the bull-pit and told her shortly, "Your desk." As he waved his hand vaguely towards the desk across from his.

Stan stared at them in growing horror. "Um, Boss, who's that?"

Gibbs looked up, his mood actually perking up slightly at the thought of introducing Jenny to him. A smirk tugged at his lips. "Steve this is Jenny Sheppard, out new Probie."

"It's Stan, Boss," the younger man muttered distractedly, looking distinctly like a puppy dog that had just been kicked, hard.

Jenny extended a hand politely. "It's nice to meet you."

Stan took her hand and sent Gibbs a pleading look. "Please tell me this is a joke."

"Nope." Gibbs hid his grin behind his computer screen.

"But…" He looked at Jenny again and let out a small whimper. Letting go of her hand he dropped into his seat. "That's not fair."

Jenny raised an eyebrow at the man's petulant display, no doubt he'd been looking forward to having someone to boss around, to play tricks on and to make fun of, and her presence had left him on unequal ground. Smiling slightly to herself she sat down at her desk, placing her bag neatly into the bottom drawer and her sig into the top one.

Before she had a chance to ask anything from her new mentor - who seemed more than a little surly - his phone rang. She wasn't surprised to find that his phone manner was just as brisk as he'd been with her, it hadn't appeared like an act just to try and intimidate her. And at least he'd used her actual name instead of just picking a similar one as he appeared to do to her colleague.

She swivelled her chair so she could watch him discreetly. He was a lot more attractive than she'd been expecting, no doubt the strong and silent type - which wasn't her usual - although there was something about those blue eyes…She shook her head. This wasn't what she was here for, so what if her new Boss was attractive? She wasn't going to be acting on that attraction so it really didn't matter.

His deep voice broke through her traitorous thoughts - something she was extremely grateful for. "We have a case, gear up." He stood up and looked down at her black - and she thought rather sedate - heels. "I'll give you two minutes to change your shoes."

"Why would I change them?"

"Because they're heels!" He stared at her as though she was insane.

"I can walk, run and jump in them. Come rain, hail, sleet or snow," she joked lightly.

He glanced away from her bright green eyes, and shook his head, muttering under his breath as they left the bull pit together.


	6. Chapter 5

Stepping underneath the tape separating the alleyway from prying eyes, Gibbs called out, "What do we have, Duck?"

"From first appearances it looks as though the poor man was beaten to death," the older man replied, glancing up from the body. His eyes drifted from Gibbs over to Jenny. "Is this your new addition?"

"Yes," Gibbs told him shortly.

Smiling, Ducky leaned forward. "Doctor Donald Mallard, but everyone calls me Ducky."

Jenny graced him with a smile. "Jenny Sheppard."

"Well if you'd like to step forward I'll talk you through what we have here."

For a brief moment, Gibbs thought he saw the confident façade of Jennifer Sheppard falter, the smile flickering and her already pale complexion waning slightly. The composure was back in place as quickly as it had left her and she nodded. "Of course."

They stepped forward and even Gibbs couldn't help but wince at the sight of the battered and bloodied body thrown across the garbage bags that decorated the alleyway. The man was even still dressed in his uniform. Kneeling down beside the body, Ducky tutted softly. "I'm afraid that this was a rather messy and protracted end for the poor man, there is grey matter everywhere and the blood splatters on the wall here are arterial sprays, both his throat and his wrists were slashed, although I believe that from the jagged cuts on the wrists they were gained as he attempted to defend himself. I'll be able to give you more detail once I get him back to Autopsy but from first look I'd ay cause of death was exanguination…in lamens terms, blood loss. It's safe bet that he died in this alleyway, if he'd been moved there would be less splatter."

Gibbs squinted at the body. "Is there something in his mouth?"

Ducky frowned in concentration, noting the glint of metal that was only just jutting out of his mouth. "There may be…" He managed to open the stiffened jaw and pulled out a bloodied chain and dog tags. "Oh dear."

Jenny couldn't help the horrified noise that escaped from her lips, truth be told she felt like someone had just twisted her stomach. She averted her gaze as she felt her boss's curious eyes on her. "So we have an ID then," she choked out.

"Possibly, although you shouldn't just make that assumption," Gibbs replied. "What's the name on them?"

"Joseph Cooper." Ducky dropped them carefully into an evidence bag and handed them to Gibbs.

Stan approached them from behind, his voice cutting though the heavy silence that had now engulfed the small group. "Boss, I spoke to Metro PD. Our victim was found just over an hour ago by a waitress taking out the rubbish. This is the back of a café, it shuts relatively early though and there's no security cameras. Apart from that we don't have anything as of yet."

"Go talk to the witness. Sheppard sketch the crime scene." Gibbs noted with interest the way she looked almost grateful for that task and how she rushed away from the body as though the hounds of hell were snapping at her feet.

"So what do you think of your new Agent?" Ducky asked, eyeing Gibbs curiously.

He shrugged. "Not sure yet," he replied thoughtfully.

"She's certainly very pretty." Gibbs shot him a dark glare that only provoked a chuckle as he added, "And she's a red head."

Sucking in an annoyed breath, he turned on his heel, calling back, "I'm going to take a look around, see if I can find anything that might be useful."

Watching his friend depart, Ducky gave a wry laugh the next few months could be quite interesting.

* * *

Tapping his pen against his desk, Gibbs watched Jenny carefully as she stared at her computer screen thoughtfully. As he watched her, he couldn't help but wonder just how squeamish she was, and whether or not she'd get past it, because if she couldn't then she was of no use to him. "What have you got?" he asked finally.

She swung her chair so that she was facing him. "I pulled up Petty Officer Cooper's record. The picture attached matches that of our victim, although I'm sure you'll still want a formal ID done, speaking of which I have the details of next of kin."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, normally he had to prod the new Agent into doing things, take them through it in baby steps. "Good," he nodded. "We'll go see Ducky and then go talk to his next of kin."

He felt an uncharacteristic tug of amusement at the way her cheeks paled and she forced out, "In Autopsy?"

"That is where he works."

"Of course." Jenny shot him a small smile as she got to her feet, and he made sure that she walked in front of him so that she couldn't see his grin.

As she stood in the elevator on it's route to Autopsy, Jenny couldn't help but curse her squeamishness. She'd get over it - of that fact she had no doubt - but she couldn't help but feel that her new boss was taking some sort of sadistic pleasure out of her discomfort.

As the doors opened and she stepped closer to the automatic glass doors, she took in a deep breath in preparation for what she was about to see.

At the swish of the doors, Ducky looked up from the Petty Officer's body. He smiled in greeting. "I wondered when I'd see you again."

"Does that mean you have something for us?" Gibbs asked casually.

"I can tell you what happened to Joseph here." He turned his attention to Jenny. "The dead still have much to tell us you know my dear, you just have to look beneath the surface of things, sometimes quite literally." Jenny smiled, meeting his eyes in a desperate attempt not to look into the open chest cavity that was only a few feet in front of her. She was thwarted in that attempt however when he continued, "Step forward, the pair of you."

Jenny winced as she came face to face with the innards of their victim, she wanted to look elsewhere but she could feel Gibbs eyes boring into her, obviously waiting for her to turn away. She focussed instead on the friendly face of the doctor in front of her, as he began to fill them in. "There was a fight, in which the Petty Officer here was an active participant, you can see abrasions on the knuckles and smears of blood that I don't believe were his own. And before you ask, Jethro I have sent all samples to the lab. At some point a knife was produced, not a large knife, I would put it as a Stanley knife. So he puts his arms up in an attempt to defend himself and his wrists are slashed. Weakened from blood loss, our killer takes the advantage and slams his head against the wall, splattering grey matter everywhere and killing him. You can see the impact of that action here."

Jenny felt her ears buzz as she listened to his spiel, as she looked away from his actions, she caught sight of his open chest. Glancing back up she looked at the smashed up skull and quickly turned away as she felt her stomach jump. Knowing what was coming next she stepped away from the body, ready to run to the sink. The problem being that Gibbs had chosen this precise moment to put his hand on her shoulder in concern, stilling her. The words, "Are you Ok?" had just left his lips when she threw up, all over his shoes. She looked up at him in abject horror.

"Oh God," she muttered. "I'm so sorry."

His eyes flickered shut for a moment, before they focussed again on her face and he ground out, "Don't apologize, it's a sign of weakness."

"But I…"

"Go. I'll meet you upstairs in ten."

"Um…" Jenny struggled to find the words to try and defend herself - probably because there weren't any. Finally she nodded and half walked, half ran from the room.

Gibbs looked over to where Ducky was standing, struggling to contain his laughter. "It never really works for you when you try to chivalrous, does it?"

"I need something a little more helpful than that."

* * *

After cleaning his shoes the best he could, Gibbs headed back up to the bull-pit to where a shame-faced Jenny was seated. She looked down at his shoes and winced. "I'll replace them," she told him quietly.

He waved his arm. "It doesn't really matter." He pulled his chair over and dropped into it so that he was facing her. "Can you get over this? I can't have you throwing up every time you step in there and you can't avoid it."

"I can, I just wasn't prepared to see…that."

Scanning her green eyes, he saw that she was convinced of her answer and he was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt, which was unusual for him. He nodded and getting back to his feet, he informed her, "We're going to speak to the next of kin, grab your coat."

Jenny smiled at him gratefully as she followed him out.

* * *

Taking in a deep breath, Kelly eyes her grandmother nervously as she twisted her hands nervously. "Gran…Is it ok if I go out to meet my friends?"

Joanne placed the crossword she was doing onto the small table next to her chair and frowned at her granddaughter. "Does your father let you go out after school?"

Kelly pulled a face. "You know what he's like, he won't let me do anything…ever."

Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "I don't think he'd approve."

"He doesn't really need to know," Kelly replied, her tone wheedling. She let her voice waver as she continued, "I never get to see my friends, I'm always left out of everything."

"I suppose so then." Joanne smiled warmly. "As long as your back at quarter to six for your dinner it can be our little secret." She watched happily as Kelly beamed at her and threw her arms around her.

"Oh thank you, Gran. I love you."

"And I love you too darling, now go and get ready, and be careful."

"I will, promise." Kelly skipped out of the room, smiling triumphantly.


End file.
